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woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". christian: hello. i'm christian fraser, and this is "the context." >> determined to push ahead with

its existing plan, which is to shut down both blast furnaces, there are two of them, in order to start construction on an electric on furnace. >> disappointment is the biggest word, disbelief. it's just been handled absolutely appallingly. but the news is of note. >> don't know what that strategy is for the region and for the field. christian: a blow to the virtue of the u.k.'s steel industry. carter still is to close blast furnaces in port talbot with 3000 jobs to go. the union plan to save jobs has failed. what does it say about the green transition. a walkout in northern ireland, no government, no funding, no

pay rises. is the standoff now a constitutional crisis? and is it the demand for cocaine here in europe that has turned ecuador into a war zone with the drug cartels? a very good evening. there appears to be a bleak future for steelmaking in the u.k. what sort of sector does it become? that is under discussion between unions representing the still unions of south wales and the bosses of the tata steelmaking company. we understand tata steel is to close both blast furnaces at its port talbot works with the loss of 3000 jobs. instead of blast furnaces, tata have a plan backed by the british government to invest in a greener arc furnace. reporter: forged by century of

steelmaking, port talbert is dominated by one industry. the site sprawls over three miles. at its heart, two coal-fired blast furnaces which produce liquid iron. both will be switched off, replaced eventually by one new electric furnace which recycles scrap steel. it is a cleaner, greener way to make metal that needs far fewer workers. sean fears his part of the plant will close. >> a lot of anger, frustration. disappntment is probably the biggest word. disbelief. it's just been handled absolutely appallingly, in my opinion. we have just got to deal with it. reporter: britain's second-biggest steelworks also going electric. it may mean the.k. may no longer produce its own so-called virgin steel from scratch. steel is important because it

has a role in all of our lives, from construction to cars, points to 10 cans. it all starts here, but it is an industry with a pollution problem. this site in port talbert is one of the u.k.'s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, responsible for 2% of the u.k.'s carbon emissions. tata has known for years it was to clean up its act. electric arc furnace is our one way to do that. >> arc furnaces should rece less than half emissions. it depends on the material you put in the arc furnace, and where your electricity is coming from. reporter: getting enough renewable energy will be a challenge. trade unions say the plan is decarbonization othe cheap, and they are unhappy that thousands of workers will lose their jobs. at a local schoo they fear what that will mean for the next generation. they already run a food bank from here, and expted demand to rise. >> i think the community will

have a huge impact, because a lot of our pupils' parents and families work within tata, but the knock on with the contractors as well. demand i presume will go up threefold, really. reporter: tata is expected to make a formal announcement tomorrow and start closing posts in april and move towards a greener future, clearly coming at a cost. hywel griffith, bbc new port talbert. christian: ben thompson as he stayed on to guide this -- thank you, after your program. you are the expert on some of this. the question i was asking, is there a future for steelmaking in britain? ben: the government would say yes, and that is why the u.k. government put 500 million pounds into tata steel last year. he wants to safeguard the future of that site. port talbot has two blast furnaces. only one other site has a blast

furnace and that is due to close, too. the three blast furnaces used to make steel in the u.k. are now set to close. the plan is to move to a greener sort of generation of steel that uses electricity rather than traditional: gas that is -- traditional coal and gas that is hugely polluting and emits carbon emissions. but it speaks to the wider decline of steelmaking in the u.k. back in 1971 there was 25 million tons of steel made in the u.k. that is fallen to about 6 million. the u.k. is increasingly lion on imports of steel from elsewhere, used of course in industry particularly car making. what tata says is this new generation of greener furnaces powered by lectures he will help it fabricate new types of steel that are used in industry, particular when it comes to rolled steel that is used in car manufauring. but the big question of course

that will hang over this decision is what future for those jobs. 75% of the workforce at tata could be out of work as a result of this decision. and it will raise a lot of questions. the opposition labor party's saying that what the government has done is pay a lot of money without securing ur future -- christian: well, that's the point here, isn't it. the fact is there is a future. it is smaller, it is greener. but we the taxpayer have paid quite a lot of money for that future, and the question is did the government pay money to keep the jobs, and how is that supposed to be staggered through the transition. or did they pay it to keep the steel? ben: or did they pay it to help the u.k. meet its climate commitments, which is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? this is designed to transition to a greener future. this is what they pointed out tonight -- essentially what the government has done is pay 500 million pounds to lose all of these jobs, these 3000 jobs that are t to go and assume

-- in announcement tomorrow. tata for its part says it is losing a million pounds, and that is a huge issue, that every time it operates it is losing a million pounds a day on u.k. operations. therefore something had to be done. they say moving to this your future with the help o government money will help safeguard some jobs but not all. we think 200 jobs will be left at that site after this change to new technology. lots of questions about moving to a green future that a lot of people back, the idea of reducing the u.k.'s emissions. but at what cost? christian: stay with us because i want to talk about the wider implications. until now the green transition has been seen as a win-win -- not only will the developed world cut emissions, but in the process of meeting targets, industry will supposedly prosper by bracing new, cleaner

technologies. the trouble is that skulls real trouble for the heavy industry on which the color workers and entire communities have -- on which a blue-collar workers and entire communities have long depended. according to a center-right think tank, more than half of the bishops said to be disrupted are based in the north of england, the midlands, and scotland. in germany the green campaign as campaign on making germany the front runner, and yet there are big questions as to how it will all be financed. i'm joined by the head of energy at energy and climate intelligence unit, and also with us is an ep for the german green party and spokesperson for climate. thank you for coming on the program. is it the fact, then, that least prosperous regions of europe, industrial heartland, are the places that will face the greatest disruption as we try and meet these targets? >> well, none of the evidence points to that.

when you look at the u.k. steel industry, port talbot, that has been in decline long before ned zero emissions by 2050 was even a thing. it has been a long-term decline of this industry. and of course it's places in the northwest of england as well, wherthey are facing a long-term industrial decline. and that has meant that lots of people in the industrial sector have been calling for quite a while for a long-ter strategy for our industries, because at present it doesn't seem like we have one, it seems like piecemeal, 500 million to tata. there is not really an overall coordinated approach to our industry, and that means that unfortunately we are going to get more and more reliant on imports of things like steel. christian: right, i'm going to come back to that, because it is a really important thought. michael, there is a similar concern about steelmaking in germany. the ceo of our slow mattel said

in a statement just a few weeks ago that the funding for the green transition of its steel plants, 2.5 billion-euro investment, is hanging in the balance, and that is because the pressure on public finances. a lot of people look at you, the green party, and blame you for that, because you have pushed the transition but the money isn't there to deliver on what you have promised. >> well, we push at the transition, but the transition itself is pushed by industry, because it is clear that there needs to be a different situation. europe will produce better steel than is produced in india, but for this we need to modernize our industry. what we are doing, we are replacing the blast furnaces with green direct reduction plants what it seems to me that the case you were discussing which is happening right now in the u.k. is not quite similar to what we are doing in germany,

because it seems to me that you are decreasing industrial output, but the whole idea of the green transition in germany is that we keep the industrial output but reduce co2 emissions. christian: ok. there is, though, a dangerous political element to this, isn't there, michael. i was looking from a report from the german economic institute and they said voters for the far right is highest in the old industrial areas most in need of decarbonization. so it is fueling resentment in those areas, and it is partly behind the shift to the hard right. what do we do about that? michael: there is a lot of insecurity, and therefore people are turning away from the government party. but i don't think that the solution now is to say, ok, nothing will change, because the change is not coming because of green policies. the change is coming because we

are in a globalized world. maybe it is not sufficient to produce steel in germany than to produce it in india. therefore, there needs to be a case where we would still produce steel in germany or in the u.k. we want to have it. it is a strategic industry, it is needed, because you never know what happens to supply chain's. second, we produce better green steel. this transition needs to happen right now, and we are doing it. christian: jess, you talked about an industrial strategy. talking about the return to subsidies, there is a lot of tension over subsidies, because as ben was suggesting, they look across the pond at the united states, $3.9 trillion of subsidies the biden administration as set out. what is intruding about the money is it is largely targeted -- what is interesting about the money is it is largely targeted at brownfield sites, coalfields,

high fossil fuel communities, communities that depend on old industries. there is a strategy in the united states, but we don't see it in the u.k. jess: i think that is fair to say. when you look at the inflation reduction act, which i think you are talking about in the u.s., they have a big chunk of what you might call subsidies,; investment, because they are putting money some might call it investment, because they are putting money into these areas that needed for transition, and investing in the future of that area. that is something we really haven't seen in the u.k. as michael was hinting at, in germany they are transitioning to using hydrogen at some of their plants to create this green steel. we've done away with the blast furnaces, so we will have no ability to make our own version steel. that means that we are going to have to import more. i think michael was hinting at this, but what we have seen over the last 18 months or so with war in ukraine, various other tensions, tension with china potentially worsening, is we are

relying on other countries for these imports. there is a risk we will be caught short when the time comes and something does happen, god for bid. christian: really quick, michael, because i'm running out of time, but obviously there are big subsidies in the united states, that tends to suck a lot of the investment. are you worried in germany that in these areas where you need new industry, you just can't pay the bucks to encourage them to come? michael: well, we first need them to stay. but there is a subsidies race happening globally. china has their own industrial strategy. they want to be leading into the new technologies that will be determining the future. the u.s. is doing the same. europe would be naïve if they would not do the same and just rely on the open market. we need to have an industrial strategy, we need to make sure and identify those industries that we want to have in europe that are strategic. this is the new world. christian: michael, jess, really

good to talk to you. thank you for coming on the program. ben is still with me. interesting comparisons and differences between the big european countries. i understand when it comes to subsidy, i understand labor to talk to the boss of tata today, and they quite like labor's green steel plan. but they can't wait for an election, because it is so expensive. ben: and the conversation you had there is really interesting because it tells us what country wants to be when it comes to business. we know the uk's heavy manufacturing has been in decline for years. governments of all colors will tell you that this is about retraining, rescaling, becoming different, high-tech, innovation, research. that is where the u.k. can add value. it cannot do so in heavy manufacturing anymore. too many global powers are good at that. just a few years ago china was making steel and selling it below cost price and selling it on global orchids because they had so much power and ability to

do so. the u.k. has to decide, and other countries including germany has to decide what he wantto be. how will it make money industry? germany hary specific plan. whether it can make the numbers add up remains to be seen. it speaks volume's about how long these strategies will last. will the government come in and say this is our plan over a decade, two decades, three decades? this is a fundamental reset of what business does and what industry will look like. the u.k. says it wants to compete on r&d and tech. it will take a long time to do that. where heavy manufacturing fits is the big question. christian: and can it help out when public finances are so squeezed? ben, thanks for staying on. we will take a short break. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news. 19 students and two teachers killed by a gunman, but what was so shocking about the events at

the element to school and uvalde, texas, was the police's failure to take action. the department of justice says the officers do not accurately assess the situation and it took more than an hour to confront and kill the gunman, despite the presence of dozens of law enforcement officials. >> for these officers who sit there and just not do anything, you know, and still be out here on the streets like nothing happened, my daughter is going. -- is gone. it's hard. it's hard. >> i think we're are going to continue fighting. some type of changes made, in honor of our kids. christian: you are live withbc news.

there is huge disruption in northern ireland. this was the biggest day of strike action for half a century. more than 100 thousand public-sector workers have walked out in a dispute over pay. schools are closed, health services and public transport had been badly affected. and why? because there is no negotiation over pay, and there is no functioning government in northern ireland, and there hasn't been for two years. union leaders say workers are being used as pawns while politicians fail to reach any agreement on power-sharing. we can speak to simon woolley, a lecturer in philosophy, ethics, and religion, and he has been on strike today. thank you for coming on the program. it really doesn't speak to-- doe s speak to the level of political gridlock there is in northern ireland. >> yeah, i think it is a perfect storm of the ordinary inflationary pressures that all of us are feeling across the u.k., but it is exacerbated by

the collapse of the executive, which basically means that northern ireland isn't really being governed by ministers who can make decisions and therefore negotiate pay settlements. yeah, it's a perfect storm of a lack of governance and yet workers who very badly need a pay uplift in the conditions we are living in. christian: as i understand it, the u.k. government is offering a financial package, but of course it is conditional on devolution being restored. there is 3.5 billion pounds on the table to help with a number of things, but 600 million of that is to find the salary increases. why can they not separate the salary increases from the carried come which needs to be delivered to restore devolution? >> i think that is the key issue here. the secretary of state let the cat out of the bag with that because how can you turn around

to public sector workers and the health sector and education sector and civil service and say that we can't fund your pay uplift, which you badly need, and at the same time say it is on the table under certain conditions? there has been a lot of resentment and anger because of things like public sector workers being used as upon, or at least some kind of inducement to put pressure on the democratic unionists who are holding up the collapse of the government. christian: raj who do you effectively blame? the dup, or do you switch that criticism to the northern ireland secretary? >> i think we can blame both, but as things stand, the secretary of state is responsible for the proper governance of northern ireland in the absence of the executive. leaving civil servants to make decisions without any control over budgets or anything else just isn't working.

we in the trade union movement have been calling on the secretary of state, because at the end of the day the buck stops with him right now. he is the man with his hand on the pursestrings and he is trying to tell us he can't do it, but we don't buy it. we are not convinced. christian: well, this is interesting, because he has set himself his own target. this is the day he said he was legally obliged to take a decision on whether or not to call another election in northern ireland. he said that if the dup don't return by tomorrow, he will have a decision to make. are you expect and something to come monday or tuesday? >> what i am expecting is for the secretary of state to do what he does, and he is going to flip-flop and he probably will make excuses and to absolute nothing, because that is the only thing he has been consistent on. he has consistently avoided making decisions, consistently messing public sector workers around. and here we are, the biggest strike at least in 50 years in northern ireland, if not in

history. as you said yourself, something in the ballpark of 150,000 in northern ireland brought to a halt today. christian: we must be getting to a constitutional crisis here. the people of northern ireland don't have a government, they don't have public services, there is little sign that the dup and sinn fein can work together. the whole system seems to have broken down entirely. how long can it be until not just the unions take the streets, but the entirety of the public in northern ireland? >> no, absolutely. this crisis is a crisis of a failure of governance. it really does make the assembly and the executive farcical. how many years has actually been in operation since the good friday agreement in 1998? it is rigorous, and it is getting -- it is ridiculous, and it is getting to the stage where we have to look at plan b, whatever plan b looks like. one thing is clear, we cannot continue like this.

we cannot continue failing our health service, we cannot continue to fail our young people in schools. yeah, it's unsustainable, and i think it is fair to summarize it inhose terms. christian: i should've probably asked you at the outset what this is meant for you personally, because you are on strike. we have had a cost-of-living crisis, we have been hit with his severe inflation. you have not had a pay rise. what has it meant for you personally? >> it shows how serious we are. i will lose money because i was on a picket line today, but ultimately i am losing money every day anyway. if you compare just in my own area, the further education sector, we are being paid 10,000 pounds a year less than our counterparts in england, wales, scotland, and the south of ireland. that is a longer-term failure. really i think this current crisis has brought a lot of things to ahead, and we are

standing together and saying enough is enough, we really need to see progress on this, because we cannot afford to pay our bills as things stand. christian: is it just a one-date strike, or is this a continuing rolling strike that the unions will hold in northern ireland? >> well, i would say the ball is in the secretary of state's court. it's very clear from the speeches at the rally in belfast that as things stand, this is a one-day strike, but if we make no progress, if the secretary of state fails and refuses to engage with union leaders to address pay, i don't think we will have any alternative but to have a combined large strike again. christian: we wish you the best of luck. thank you very much for coming on the program for the >> thank you so much. christian: let me show you some live pictures we are getting from washington. there is a deadline being set for tomorrow to keep government open, and of course the

democrats and republicans have been wrangling for some time over the size of the debt and how they are going to address that. we understand a deal has been agreed. it is her short-term fix, as ever. ha! they have agreed a continuing resolution which will maybe kick this can down the road a little. but there is no resolution on the issues at the border,which means' there is no money in this agreement for ukraine. the military aid, around $60 billion of aid that is so badly needed in ukraine. we will maybe get reaction to that from our american panelists at 9:00. other side of the break, our weekly look at artificial intelligence, and of course we narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by...